Vets having trouble Diagnosing my Persian

I will start from the beginning.

I adopted Brimley a couple years ago from a rescue. He has been very healthy all the time we had him until recently (he is approximately 4 and persian).

Three months ago we had to wash him because he gets hair tangled on his butt and you know -___-. So we did and he seemed ok until the next day. Our other Persian Wilford started biting his neck to assert dominance. I think he may have been too aggressive because after that brimley was very lethargic and hid behind the toilet all day. He would hang his head low and crooked when he would walk so we thought it could be a infection and took him to the vet...

The vet did not see anything but prescribed him some pain killers and ear infection meds just in case it was in his deep inner ear. Brimley had some good and bad days after that but did not really get any better. He still kept his neck low and twitched his head here and there. So after a few days one night we checked on him because he seemed worse. We picked him up and set him on the bed to check his eyes and ears. His eyes were super dialated. He freaked out when we put him on the bed and jumped off the bed dragging himself only by his front legs, dragging his back and ran to the stairs and tumbled down.

At this point we panic. We take him to the animal hospital. He was breathing hard and just curled up. The vet checked him and said ther is nothing he can really do but give him more pain meds. By the end of the two hour visit Brimley was better seemingly. So we took him home and kept him confined away from the other cat. He did not get any better so we took him to our vet and they refered us to a cat neurologist..

The neurologist said it is either a mass or a herniated disc. Without a really expensive MRI we would not know for sure. She recommended we cage him for two weeks and see if he improves. since this would limit his movement. After two weeks Brimley was CURED!...sort of. He was fine for three months.  Perfectly happy. Normal, Playing cat.

Then a week ago he got poop butt again and we had to clean him. Then the other cat asserted dominance again... and Brimley started going down hill. Brimley collapsed as he was walking to get food. He tipped over and locked up and started shaking his head (similar to issues before) So we immediately caged him. After a few days he was back to normal. Then it happened again he tipped over and locked up and made a terrible noise. So we caged him again and now he is not eating or drinking. I am taking him to the vet today and possibly the specialist for a MRI.

Has any one else had issues similar to this with their cats. We had inconclusive x-rays, and no for sure diagnosis from multiple vets. I am desperate at this point. We can afford the MRI but we are not sure about major surgery if its needed, the doctor even said a MRI might not answer our issues. 

Either way I am taking him in now to see what is wrong. Any ideas or recommendations i can tell the vet would be appreciated.

Did you have a full workup including blood work done? Anything abnormal on those results at all? It sounds like he had a seizure. I think you probably need to proceed with the MRI to verify whether or not there's a tumor that might be causing this. 

Just out of curiosity, does Wilford 'only' assert dominance after Brimley's behind is cleaned?  I agree it would be beneficial to proceed with the MRI.  By any chance do you live near a veterinary medical teaching hospital, e.g. Cornell, Univ. of Penn, etc.?  My reason for asking is that you said you do not have a diagnosis after seeing multiple vets.

Yeah usually only after he is cleaned or if he feels sick. Brimley is usually more agile and wont put up with it.

We took him to another specialist yesterday and they did X-Rays, Bloodwork and other tests to no avail and are doing a MRI this morning. He will not walk or move really just flops down and doesn't even try to stand if you hold him up (vet's test).  One time he did walk a little ways but could barley do so. This last seizue or episode really took a toll on him I think.He does not really show any external pain or discomfort. 

Really hoping the MRI shows something, 

Kyle French said:

 
Really hoping the MRI shows something, 

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Will keep my fingers crossed for Brimley and you today.   Please keep us posted on the MRI results.

So we got a prognosis, not a good one....

He has severe hydrocephalus and the only treatment involves very expensive brain surgery that may have to be re-done every few years. It also comes with chances of infection. They are going to see how he responds to steroids but the doc did not have high hopes.

Has anyone found any alternative treatments that might work?

Thanks

I wanted to add to what @Neely  brought up regarding a veterinary teaching hospital---if they are talking about doing an indwelling shunt, you could possibly get it done much cheaper there plus having the benefit of research/teaching facility's expertise on the latest techniques.  The largest vet college in my state often will treat very serious conditions requiring surgery at a fraction of the cost, and sometimes free, if you can get with their clinical program manager.  Some of them operate low cost clinics at the university or off-site.  They are usually happy to take on more unusual procedures so students can get hands-on experience with them.  I used one in my state at one point to treat a dog with a severe congenital condition, and it was maybe a fourth of the cost a specialty vet would have charged, and some of the tests they ran on him under anesthesia would have cost me thousands.  It is worth checking into!!

Ok thanks I will try and call a couple